Cuomo not worried about gaming industry slide

Gov. Andrew Cuomo brushed off recent bad news for the gaming industry, saying that the private sector and not the state will determine “the scale and scope” of casino operations coming soon to upstate.

“The private market does this,” Cuomo said in response to a question about the recent Moody’s downgrade of the industry from “stable” to “negative,” and the subsequent news that the Trump Plaza casino will likely be the next Atlantic City gaming hall to shut down. “They have experts. So I am sure they will propose what they believe will be successful. The state isn’t building any casinos and the state isn’t spending any money here, right? These are private companies, which normally know what they’re doing. If they don’t, then the market will tell them that.”

Last week Moody’s concluded that “U.S. consumers will continue to limit their spending to items more essential than gaming, even as the U.S. economy continues to improve.” The investor services outfit viewed the regional gaming industry’s modest slide this spring as a “fundamental downward shift” in demand.

Across the Hudson in New Jersey, four of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos have announced plans to close unless they find buyers. The New York Times reports that the four hotels constitute 8,000 casino jobs that could be lost, which represents 25 percent of the city’s casino workforce.